It seems the Colts, too, were a victim of Spygate, the 2007 scandal in which the Patriots were disciplined for videotaping an opponent's signals. Which means the Patriots' alleged cheating against Indianapolis started long before DeflateGate.

Not just videotaping hand signals and deflating footballs, but stealing other team's playbooks and playlists from locker rooms and disguising videographers as NFL workers to tape opposing teams' walkthroughs.

The story cites many unnamed sources. ESPN writers Don Van Natta Jr. and Seth Wickersham say they interviewed "more than 90 league officials, owners, team executives and coaches, current and former Patriots coaches, staffers and players, and reviews of previously undisclosed private notes from key meetings."

The Colts are mentioned several times in the report, including the following:

• Walsh recalls the time he was asked to cheat against Indianapolis.

"The cameramen's assignments differed depending on the opponent. For instance, Walsh told investigators that against Indianapolis he was directed to take close-ups of the Colts' offensive signals, then of Peyton Manning's hand signals. Mostly, though, the (other) tapes were of defensive signals.

"Each video sequence would usually include three shots: the down and distance, the signal, and, as an in-house joke, a tight shot of a cheerleader's top or skirt. The tape was then often edited, sources say, so that (they) contained only the signals, in rapid fire, one after another."

• Former Colts GM Bill Polian confirms that several teams complained that the Patriots were taping signals of their coaches during the 2006 NFL season.

"In November 2006, Green Bay Packers security officials caught (video assistant) Matt Estrella shooting unauthorized footage at Lambeau Field. When asked what he was doing, according to notes from the Senate investigation of Spygate that had not previously been disclosed, Estrella said he was with Kraft Productions and was taping panoramic shots of the stadium.

"He was removed by Packers security. That same year, according to former Colts GM Bill Polian, who served for years on the competition committee and is now an analyst for ESPN, several teams complained that the Patriots had videotaped signals of their coaches. And so the Patriots — and the rest of the NFL — were warned again, in writing, before the 2007 season," that videotaping opponents was illegal.

• NFL commissioner Roger Goodell admitted in a private meeting that the Patriots began their taping operation in 2000 and notes from those tapings were destroyed beginning as early as 2002.

"I wish the evidence had not been destroyed because at least we would know what had been done," Polian said. "Lack of specificity just leads to speculation, and that serves no one's purpose — the Patriots included."

• Colts kicker Adam Vinatieri is mentioned as part of a Patriots Super Bowl win.

"There were regular rumors that the Patriots had taped the (St. Louis) Rams' walk-through practice before Super Bowl XXXVI in February 2002, one of the greatest upsets in NFL history, a game won by the Patriots 20-17 on a last-second Adam Vinatieri field goal."

• The tip from the Colts about the Patriots' use of deflated footballs came to a league official the night before the AFC Championship game.

"And then, on the eve of the AFC Championship Game, as (Patriots owner Robert) Kraft hosted Goodell at a dinner party at his Brookline, Massachusetts, estate, a league official got a tip from the Colts about the Patriots' use of deflated footballs.

"Even the language of the tip seemed to echo suspicions shaped by the Spygate era. Ryan Grigson, the Colts' general manager, forwarded to the league office an emailed accusation made by Colts equipment manager Sean Sullivan: 'It is well known around the league that after the Patriots game balls are checked by the officials and brought out for game usage, the ball boys for the Patriots will let out some air with a ball needle because their quarterback likes a smaller football so he can grip it better.' , "